I was visiting downtown Tampa near Franklin Mall. Adjacent Lykes Gaslight Park has numerous benches, and is visited by many homeless. Last summer before the Republican National Convention (held in Tampa), these benches mysteriously disappeared for a few weeks. Nuff said.

But on this day, I could hear soft saxophone music. In an alleyway near the park I could see the musician. He was alone, and attracted no audience. This surprised me a bit, he sounded pretty good. So I listened for a while. Then I approached him, put a couple of bucks in his basket, and asked about photographing him. I asked for a natural, genuine look, but he immediately began playing. I ripped off several shots before he stopped, and I got a more traditional portrait – that I don’t particularly like.

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Then I showed Gary images on the camera’s LCD. He very much liked the ones where he showed emotion while performing. He asked if he could have an image to use in printed promotional materials. So I e-mailed him an artsy interpretation, for which he later thanked me.

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An hour later, I saw him in the park playing some kind of a flute-like instrument. A Renaissance Man.